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Organic Today - For a Better Tomorrow! Home of DFW's first All-Clean, Real Food, Real Farmer's Market Day! (Site Best Viewed in IE) 4710 Pioneer Rd., Balch Springs, TX 75180 (1 block north I20 @ Seagoville Rd.) 214-348-3336 Open 1st & 3rd Saturdays only April - December |
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Eden's In the News & On-Line
Living Natural First Radio Interview Featured in Edible Dallas & Forth Worth - Winter 2009 Market Day Feature Story in NeighborsGo - July 2010 Chefs for Farmers Launch long-table style benefit dinner at Eden's. D Magazine Follow us!
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Prepping potatoes!
Rule of thumb in the Dallas area, is to plant on or around Valentines Day. Usually by Washington's birthday for sure. (unless you can't work the soil of course and then you just plant when you can.) Soil preparation is pretty easy, but you do need a loose soil for best results. Dig and loosen to about a foot or so, or prepare to plant shallow and build up your beds with hay or other loose mixture such as compost. Fertilize with 1 lb. Colloidal Rock Phosphate per 10 ft. row. Then, some say, fertilize again when first blooms appear. (Let me know if you need this, I'll be sure to have extra on hand!) You can cut the seed potatoes into pieces, making sure there is at least 1 "eye" per piece, or drop whole potatoes in. Plant 10 to 12 inches apart and cover in a furrow between 1 and 3 inches deep. Space rows 24 to 36 inches apart. (NOTE: If you cut into pieces, it is suggested you dust them with sulfur to help protect from molding in the ground.) We spray with compost tea and fish/seaweed foliar about twice a month and side dress with partially finished compost and mulch. Plants will start to emerge after what may seem like forever, but then you "hill" up mulch or loose soil/compost up the sides to help increase yields. Once plants bloom, you can start to dig around and find the tubers forming - harvest at the size you want! Some people like to store potatoes, we dig em' up and cook em' fresh! You can store unwashed "Irish" potatoes for several months in a cool and dry place. (I don't typically wash mine till I'm ready to eat them.) Yield is roughly estimated at 10 lbs per 1 lb of seed potato planted. Here is an article about growing potatoes in hay from Mother Earth News. And sadly, I had to turn from our own state to find non chemical suggestions for growing them. Here is a good reference page from my home state of IL on potato growing tips. We can start planting onions anytime now, and yet, I've planted them as late as March with good results. You can plant onions at various times - but a very experienced local farmer tells me, with our crazy winters - the weather goes warm/cold too many times - your onions, which are biennials, can be fooled into thinking they are in their 2nd year and may go to seed before they bulb. (so there is no need to rush.)
At Eden's we can also bring in a variety of drought tolerant, native or otherwise well adapted ornamental plants for your home landscape. We can help you decide what to plant where and, best of all, we can tell you how to take care of what you buy so it lives! We will help you choose the best plants for your situation, order the plants fresh from a local grower and help make sure you get the right soil amendments to assure a good start! |
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